The 3XN was awarded the right to design the new building for the Copenhagen Aquarium in 2008, after winning an international architectural competition. Then the idea of the Danish bureau unconditionally conquered the jury: the architects proposed to create the building of one of the largest oceanariums in the world in the form of a giant propeller, the volumetric blades of which imitate a whirlpool. Brought into reality, this concept has not lost its original expressiveness, strengthening Denmark's reputation as one of the most advanced architectural powers in the world.
The Copenhagen Aquarium has a history of over 80 years. Created in 1939 and survived the Second World War, it was reconstructed several times, constantly increasing the number of its inhabitants. However, located in the central area of the city, alas, back in the mid-1990s, it finally exhausted its territorial possibilities for further expansion.
That is why the site for the construction of the new complex was specially chosen at some distance from the center. The ideal site for this turned out to be lands in the Copenhagen suburb of Kastrup, where the international airport of the Danish capital is also located. And the point is not only that there are enough free lands here: the decisive factor in favor of choosing this particular site was the proximity to the Øresund Strait - seawater is supplied directly from it to the aquarium.
The whirlpool facades of the building are clad in diamond-shaped aluminum panels that change their hue depending on the time of day and weather conditions. As conceived by the architects, such a surface ideally emphasizes the theme of the structure, because the metal reflects the world around it almost the same as the surface of the water. Thanks to this solution, from a bird's eye view (or from the window of an aircraft approaching landing), the building really resembles a water vortex, and from the ground, when one of its wings of bionic forms comes into view, then another, it looks like emerging from the depths of the ocean whale.
Each of the "blades" of the giant propeller contains its own exposition dedicated to the inhabitants of the largest oceans, seas and rivers of the Earth. In particular, it is here that you can see the most complete collection of sharks in Europe, and even meet some of them under water as part of special diving lessons.
In total, after reconstruction, the Blue Planet aquarium is home to 20 thousand marine fish and other species of animals - 53 aquariums and a total of about 4 million liters of water were needed to accommodate them. The water intake system is 1.6 km long, and its key element is numerous filters that make the water of the strait safe for the inhabitants of the aquarium and then allow it to be returned back without harming the environment.
A. M.
